Amr Moussa presented the high elections commission with 50,0000 signatures on Friday, endorsing his run for the presidency and making him the first independent candidate to officially register in the race, the website of the independent daily Al-Shorouk reported.

According to the Presidential Elections Law, a non-partisan candidate must gather notarized signatures from 30,000 citizens from 15 provinces or get the support of 30 MPs to be able to run for president.

Moussa and some other independent candidates announced prior to their registration that they planned on exceeding the required number of signatures.

Moussa follows several candidates running under parties who have registered in the past week. The election is scheduled to be held on 23 and 24 May.